


The Ghosts of Anima

by MissLalia



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:20:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28021548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissLalia/pseuds/MissLalia
Summary: A strange force senitive woman offers Rey the opportunity to do the one thing that Vader and no other Jedi has done: bring someone back from the Realm of Death.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Reylo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	1. The Will of the Force

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work in progress, so please be kind. It does start slow, and I know this, but my idea had to have a decent amount of ground work to be respectful to the Star Wars Canon and mythos variants, while still giving me time to enjoy writing some of my head canon down. :-)
> 
> Smut will be isolated to its own chapter so it can be skipped by those who don't enjoy that sort of thing. I'll make it obvious in the title.
> 
> Suggestions to correcting story are appreciated, but some things will just have to be screwed up because when there are time travelers and other planes of existence in play, some things just WILL NOT make sense.

Kora stepped off her Corellian Transport ship, the wall of humidity and warmth of the moon overtaking the climate controlled air behind her. A fine layer of condensation covered her skin, each droplet registering to her Force Sense. Ajan Kloss’s environment was merciful to her skin, but coated her lungs with her first deep inhale.

Part of her ship’s crew, 2 Nikto bodyguards and a Tiss’shar alien, insisted on staying with the ship to clean it and prepare for the guests they knew would come. Oli-Ral-Ifi’s deft lizard form was perfect for snaking in and around the conduits and coils, his hyper-intelligence dedicated to upkeep and improvement on this ship, its droid, and weapons. He found disdain from people outside of the crew so often that he preferred the uncomplicated company of the Nikto. Tsilvo Patt and Chi Sharr were happy to have clear and decisive instructions from Navigator Oli and Captain Veelos. Adept Kora was harder to understand overall, but given her respect for everyone around her, asking Oli and Veelos to translate her words into orders was a minor concession. 

Oli nodded to the smal group as they set their boots into the soft, damp earth. He then turned back up the ramp with exaggerated slow motions, jumping lightly to test the hydraulics of the disembarkation ramp, before he ascended fully to tweak the water pressure in the Refresher and otherwise run diagnostics on the ship to ensure success. The Nikto bodyguards stood at ease on the ramp, ready to receive their Captain and Adept and Droid whenever they were ready.

The tall pale woman knew where Rey was. And Maz. And Finn. As she searched for people in the Resistence who could tell her where they were, she heard stories of them. Their vibes compared to their size and Force signature gave her a map of these most famous folks, as well as all of the other lifeforms, aliens and droid and plants, the miasma of life and light around her. The Adept’s whole life was dictated by the Force, a hard burden that could be made worthwhile in this meeting.

She nodded politely as others of the Resistance acknowledged her, hoping she could move with purpose in such a way that even the most daft would understand her need. The wars against the First Order and Final Order were won, and negotiations to relocate the Resistance to the Inner Rim to coordinate in the aftermath was underway. General Daemeron and Lieutenant Connix spoke to holograms of dignitaries while their subordinates coordinated details, and so she moved freely. 

Her droid, Spot aka SP-01, and her Captain Veelos, a Mon Calamari she met in the Outer Rim, strode behind her trying to keep up with her excited skip steps and guard her from any interference. Spot, a four legged droid that looked more like a dog than a robot, stopped to beep the droid equivalent of pleasantries and introductions to BB8 and D-O, announcing the list of living and droids on the ship, their dedication to the burgeoning Resistance government, and their dire need to speak to someone strong with the Force. BB8, rocked back and forth knowing that Rey was the best choice, while D-O said that Finn may know things that Rey does not. Spot beeped adamant urging of importance, . BB8 and D-O understood the tone of information conveyed and each thanked the visitor for their information, and rushed off to inform others in the camp.

Kora held her open hand out at her hip to her partner and droid as she approached the threshold of the dense jungle near the Resistance base. She met the gaze of and nodded resolute to her life partner whose warm heart hated to see her step into danger, but admired her fearlessness. 

The jungle was still. Placid. Even with the pulse of life all around her. 

“A moment?” Veelos and Spot both nodded. Kora watched the pulse of circuits in Spot logging the information, choosing directives, and then acting on them. They made a few beeps of understanding and looked to the captain for orders. Veelos winked at her lover, a cheeky signal of hope and optimistic faith. 

Kora was taken with pride in her little crew and their trust in her as she took in a deep breath of dense air, and walked with deliberate steps like a dancer towards Rey. Veelos admired Kora’s grace as she leaned against a tree and took to reviewing her notes for their next set of travel plans.

Rey was meditating, but both women acknowledged each other in the Force. Kora ceased walking, assuming a restful pose a respectful distance away, waiting for Rey to finish. 

Rey’s mind went from quiet connection to the Force to a crescendo of activity. Her heart raced with a flush of feelings and flashes of visions; the destruction that Starkiller dealt and the countless people murdered, the echo of darkness that was borne into her body and mind thanks to her Grandfather Emperor Palpatine, the deep and distant loneliness she held for most of her life and how Finn and Leia and Luke and so many others filled that desert, but when she touched Ben it became a jungle around her. All of the love and friendship she already had redoubled in strength, seeing his darkness, his loneliness, his compassion for her in the depths of his darkest moments where all other cares didn’t exist.

Since she could not ignore it, she meditated on this: the balance in the Force can be unfair to some and utterly kind to others. How they spend that time and use their circumstances to their best benefit depends on the Force and their ability to respect its will. The results are not always happy for the people that invoke these changes such that they affect the whole galaxy. However, given her own disposition and the vast upswell of hope, and the quiet part of her that contained the living vestiges of Force that Ben gave to her before dissipating, she knew that her life did not only ever have to be tragedy. She had love and life and would never be alone again. 

So why did she feel like this strange woman in a helmet communicating through the Force had something to do with these sudden thoughts?

After half an hour, her levitating form floated to the ground, just close enough for her feet to touch the earth and take over her locomotion. At the same time, Kora stood up in a single motion wherein not one movement was wasted.

“Madam Jedi Rey Skywalker.”

“Rey.”

“Rey.” Kora agreed. “I am Kora, and I have a very complicated request of you, one that can also benefit you.” She had practiced this pitch so many times that the Force sang it right along with her, the leaves shaking their condensation creating a small drizzle. “I have a place for you to shine your light that may recover many lives.”

Rey squinted, “It’s dangerous.” She read the Force in and around Kora, whose helmet remained on, and she could feel the excitement and urgency. Kora’s pale skin made her look unnaturally sickly; she was slender, underfed like Rey, but less muscular. She carried a staff much like Rey’s, though the wear showed it was always in hand with no signs of a holster. Her garb was loose like Rey’s, but much more vibrantly colored. It was a bold rainbow of nearly unmatching colors except for strange subtleties in the dye that made the colors shift just so in the light that made her entire appearance make sense. 

Kora nodded. “It is. But worth it. I just need some time to explain it to you.”

Rey squinted in the haze, the jungle canopy shifting to show her sunlit face. “Dinner. Tonight? I’ll try to keep it to those who *need* to know,” her emphasis on *need* showed her understanding that not all of her compatriots would approve of her disappearing on a dangerous adventure already. It was only a month since the Death of Palpatine, and two weeks since she built her own lightsaber and buried her Masters’ on Tattooine.

Only a month and she felt lost to her next purpose. She didn’t need to recover, she needed to remain in motion. The Universe was buzzing with a new bloom of the Force, and she felt like she was somehow missing it.


	2. The Destiny of Skywalker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kora explains how to bring balance back to the force.

Between Veelos’ colorful graffiti splattered hulk of a ship that she called “The Ark,” and the Millennium Falcon, workers set a long table for dinner. The other tables, equally long, were in the clearing of the jungle; the celebration drinks still came out every night to celebrate the living and mourn the dead, as reminded by the toasts that preceded the drinking and eating.

As the solitary table filled with the Ark’s crew and Rey and others, the last toasts to those who have passed were finished. Kora and Rey, seated across from each other on one end of the table, leaned in as Kora’s urgency overtook her body. “That’s what I want to talk to you about.”

“Life and death?” Rey mused with a half-smile.

“More like death and life.” Her helmet was off, her royal purple hair, nearly chocolate brown in depth and tone, was impressive, long, straight, ever veiling her face.

Rey tried to find Kora’s gaze. “Tell me,” she whispered in a wide-eyed and desperate breath.

“I know you’ve been studying the Jedi lore, and your fight at the Sith Castle means that you already know a lot about the history and mysticism about the Force and its users. Well, I have to tell you a story that won’t be in those books, and then ask you for a favor that might also serve you as well…” Kora felt Rey’s response. Her entire being brightened with energy and anticipation. BeaumontKin, the historian, had already taken a seat next to Rey, across from the gregarious Captain Veelos who was happy to chat and laugh with those toward the center of the table, giving Kora, Rey, and Beau the chance to speak more privately. As Kora continued, he pulled out his personal notebook and looked at which of the Jedi tomes he had in his satchel that may apply to the situation.

“The places where Jedi and Sith temples lie are often at junctions of strong energy, places full or absent of the Force. Not all of these points have temples, of course. Some of these points, with or without temples, have conditions perfect so that...someone who knows the Force can enter a portal. Beyond that portal can be any number of gateways in the layered veils of the pathways of the Force. One could even travel to the Realm of Death.”

Rey stares, “Death. You’re serious.”

“Death is part of the balance.” Kora shrugs, “I didn’t understand it at first, but now the more I learn, the easier it is to accept. I can’t say it is really Death, rather the Force is a cycle and this place is the World In Between. But those who are no longer with us here,” she nods towards those who were earlier toasting the memories of the fallen, “there is a chance to find them *there*.”

Veelos nods, “It sounds like Death to me.” Beaumont has already pulled one of the tomes out and is carefully rotating pages, scanning each to match the concepts these strangers have brought with them.

Rey blurts too loud, “Have you been there?” Finn, having heard this, excuses himself from his midtable seat next to Poe. 

“More than a dozen times.” Rey gasps, Kora nods solemnly and continues, “I want to ask you to come to one of the portals with me. With my knowledge of the realm and your power and strength in the Force as a beacon, we could bring so many people back.” 

“Back...” Finn stares at the women. “From the dead? You’re serious.”

“Apprentice Finn, I have already guided more than 100 people back into Life over my many attempts. My crew has helped them find their original family when they could, and new families and homes where we could not.” Kora stands slowly, “It was the Force that helped them leave the Realm of Death.” She turns back to Rey, “The Balance is off; so many people have died, plants, animals, planets...too much. Everything is out of sync. With your help I could make a push to recover many more and help correct the Balance.” 

Poe, channelling Leia’s patience and blunt curiosity speaks, “How do you know? You think you can bring dead people back to life? How do you know you wont’t get people killed when you try? We need every person we have now. Can you guarantee I’ll get my people back? If you can’t, then I have to veto this...well, as much as I hope Rey will listen.” His grin reflected Rey’s in their shared appreciation of their impulsiveness. Finn nodded understanding the importance.

Kora stood; the whole table was now silent and watching this exchange, all curious to know the same things. She took up a position a dozen feet away from midtable, a perfect position to make a presentation. There were only murmurs among those at the table and then silence once her skeletal form wrapped in ethereal petals stiffened formally, and then as her words began, she moved in smooth katas with her staff, her words holding a sing-song quality (much like Pacific Islanders do in dance.)

*~*~*

_Her planet, her people were lost to genocide at the hands of the Empire and Order 66; it was meant to target Jedi. However, The Empire killed many who were Force Sensitive, and recruited and brainwashed those who could be converted. She was among the last killed since her parents were merchants, but they were found and killed anyway. Vader himself was present at the death of Kora and her family._

Everyone at the dinner table shifted at the horror described, mouths open but also covered with their hands, eyebrows furrowed in concern. No one ate their food, but some did take big gulps of their drinks, alcoholic or not.

_Her people ALL sensed the Force.  
Because they had to._

_Their planet was rich in minerals, but dire in light from their nearest star as the atmosphere was densely clouded with red-grey particulates. They were lonely and vulnerable to outsiders._

At this she parted her smooth purple locks, tucking them behind her earslike the partig of curtains, revealing a veil that started at her eyebrows. A band of woven gold, silver, and copper, rested on her brow allowing the dangling, layers of brightly colored sheer fabric like vibrant butterfly wings; shuffled, staggered draping on either side of her nose, leaving her cheeks and mouth revealed. She gently slid her hand under the prismatic layers of fabric, like peeking from under elaborate eyelashes, holding her hand parallel to the ground.

She had no eyes. 

Where eyes ought to be on someone as human seeming as she, instead there was flat bone under smooth flesh.

Rey finally understood the way this woman had communicated to her through the Force. Without sight, it was Kora using Rey’s information to create mental images, and Kora only confirming the parts that vibrated within the Force.

Kora explained: _I am Miraluka, a race thought to be exterminated by Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine the Sith Darth Sidious, the Empire, and whose ability to see began and ended where the Force did._

“To answer you, General Poe, I know because I see better in the Realm of Death than I do here, because I have no eyes to lie to me. The realm is like speaking to someone who can only speak in poems; simpler ways of expression exist, but that’s not how that place works. However, I do understand the language of that place.”

She then explained her death.

_She passed on, slain by blasters unceremoniously. She reached theRealm of Death; it is a world made of the thoughts of the people who are there. Two people may see the same landscape or entirely different worlds while standing side-by-side. Those who are powerful in the Force become Force Spirits and can visit Death or Life, but are rarely seen. All kinds of people can exist there, for a time. Their strength in the Force and their desire to reminisce about their life or move onward seems to determine what happens to them. Sith may enter the realm by portal, but they do not go there when they die. They cease to be outright, perhaps renewed, perhaps obliterated._

Rey’s bright round eyes of wonder became shadowed. Could Ben be there? Surely, SURELY his sacrifice for her either lived within her or in that place -- but what if it was both? He cannot be entirely gone. She rubbed her hands together hoping.

Kora continues the speak-song and interpretive dance, her eyes flickering between Rey and her beloved, Veelos. How many times has she subjected her Love to this story? Veelos smiled, appreciating the artistry and talent.   
_While in the realm, a place where time has no meaning, she was overcome with the Force as the immeasurable power of Vader moved through it, and she knew some entrance must exist. He stormed through the plains, his body like lava black with cracks of fire. The Force was shimmering in the space where his arms and legs ought to be, limbs of an effervescent light blue, all worldly materials gone but his lightsaber. He cut through unseen enemies towards an unseen goal until Kora reached out with the Force to dare to see what he saw._

_She was overwhelmed with sights and sounds and, above all, feelings, deep feelings of ache and regret and desperation. He pitied himself. He raged at the circumstances that brought him there. He swatted away enemies of an indeterminate nature as he approached a palace. Once inside the palace, Kora used the Force to keep herself hidden from Vader’s overwhelmed mind, while still seeing the world of his making, and watched everything unfold._

_He approached a woman, Padme of Naboo, she later found out. Her brown hair looked like it had stars in it, in loose tousled waves that came to life in the imagined breeze. She posed longingly at the edge of a balcony, looking out upon the vast nothingness. Vader called out to her, but she only murmured something wistful and sad, too difficult for Kora to hear, and fell over the side of the balcony. Force Lightning from the sky rend her asunder as Vader cried out in agony._

_Padme didn’t know Vader. She only knew Anakin. She was escaping the Dark Side, even if it meant allowing the Dark Force to shatter her._

_She had lived in that hell of her own heart’s making over and over until Vader ended it. Vader could not feel this; he felt betrayed by the Force itself and recommitted himself to the Darkside as he stood mourning his greatest love, brooding on the tragedies that brought him here, pitying himself even more for bad luck, rather than acknowledging his choices and his doubt of those who loved him most._

_Unbeknownst to him, Kora was already running, moving with the Force both guiding and hiding her; Vader’s incredible power in the Force made wake in the Realm like a boat on water. Kora only needed to follow the ridge between the ripples back to see where he had entered._

“The first time I saw someone come out of the Realm of Death, it was me, being reborn fully from a worked stone passage onto a dusty stone floor. General Daemeron, I am alive having escaped the Realm on my own. I hid and watched as Vader came out after me, using my whole self to hide inside the Force. But he drew his lightsaber and destroyed the opening, in his rage ignoring me. I could not go back in that way.”

_Her hopes shattered when she thought of the Miraluka she could no longer recover, now that she knew that escape was possible. They had been comforts to one another, creating a unified consciousness, and creating a variety of landscapes and interacting with those who did not have a connection with the Force but shared this space with them all the same. One by one, the glow of the Miraluka and other Force sensitive spirits in her mind had faded. She hoped that when she left the Realm, it would be a starburst, something obvious that others could feel and follow._

_And it was these thoughts that sent her on a journey to learn about the Realm of Death from old temples and books and whispered legends._

She ended her performance with these words:   
“And here General, I answer your third question: I have gone and come back more than a dozen times since. I found a portal whose placement nearly killed me as it sat on the precipice of a volcano, and from there I looked for other doorways. I KNEW to look for doorways out. I do know a few now. All but one are dangerous. That ONE, that one has enough space for my personnel carrier to land and for people to enter and exit safely. I stayed there for a month, I have had a crew member of mine living there for a full cycle, and in that time the weather was reasonable, with clean water nearby. There are animals to hunt, if needed, and I found local fruits and vegetation and berries that made for fine eating.  
That having been said, I know it can be done.”

Kora could feel the others focus on Rey, and her rapt attention on Kora worried them.

“If something should happen that Rey would be in danger, I will sacrifice myself to get her, and any of your people, out.” 

Rey couldn't say it aloud. She doesn’t need to. _Ben._

Kora nods. Her mind speaks to the Jedi’s: _If he’s there, we can bring him out. Between your bond and my knowledge, I KNOW we can. It’s just up to him to choose to come..._

Rey’s head tilted. _Is this why you’re here?_

Kora nods again. _I’m here because I need you, and you need me. Leia told me so. Ahsoka told me so. They not only vouch for you but for my understanding of the realm and my goals to restore balance...and for Ben’s worthiness._

Their private conversation to onlookers looked like an intense staring contest across meters of moving people beginning to chatter. In their minds, they were alone, frozen, speaking close enough to touch. There, Kora looked just as pale, with a gray pallor, while Rey glowed the soft golden glow of hope. The taller woman looked to the shorter with deference; _What do you want to do?_


	3. Parking and Parting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The choice is made. The party travels to the portal and prepares for their next steps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The tense of the sentences changes in here. I'm aware of that. I intend to fix/correct it, but I'm not sure which way I want it to be yet. Luckily it's only 2 tenses of speech I'm deciding between (and not all of them or even the complicated ones...). Therefore, please forgive the tense changes and know that I know. And if you have suggestions of which sounds better, let me know.

Rey’s eyes widen as Kora projects the feeling of Leia reaching out to the Miraluka woman, the Force Ghost connecting to the Once-Dead Force Adept in the Realm of the Living. The late General was a vague shape that could have been anyone, but the figure vibrated with the resolute intention, learned patience, and bottomless connection to the Force itself. That was definitely Leia. Rey enjoys a moment of presence with her mentor before she “Who are you? How do you --”

“I am not a Jedi. Except for that fact, I am one of the best I know at working with the Force. How you manipulate the Force here among Life, that is the depth and breadth of my ability to navigate the Realm of Death and the World Between Worlds.”

Rey believed her, but her forehead wrinkled.

“In a way, I have nothing to lose since I’m already dead. You can’t do worse to me.” Kora’s head tilted. “You, of all people, MUST understand what that means.” 

Rey’s response: a lone tear streamed down her face with evidence that more tears were to follow. She did know that feeling. She carries whatever fragment of Ben that exists within her. Being reckless with herself had become a far more difficult request of her anger since Exegol.

Huddled discussions among Kora’s tiny crew and the small assembly of Resistance leadership ensued. Amidst the chaos, Rey and Kora now sat across from one another, on opposite sides of the table. Kora put her hand out. “Are you with me?”

Without any further consultation, Rey placed her hand in Kora’s.

*~*~*  
As the Ark whizzed through space, Kora and Rey took time learning from one another while Veelos, Maz, Finn, and Beau made plans. Finn came around occasionally to learn, but when his impatience got the best of him, he stepped away to work on the ship or consult with those aboard.

Reading the Force in relation to Kora was like having synesthesia; images don’t exist, only feelings. Colors aren’t seen so much as they vibrate at different intensities. Rey learned that Kora made her veil and chose the materials based on what flower dyes felt and smelled best. (“If it’s going to be by my nose, no sense in using dung to tint the fabric.”).   
Kora explained why this was important to understand before they arrived: “How I perceive the living world is how you will perceive the Realm of Death. There is no physical there. You will have to allow abstract ideas to take form and adapt from there.”

Beau pulled Rey aside, “Vader tried this once. The books from Ach-to give a third-hand account of it. We know that during his disappearance, there was a temple to the Force that was utterly destroyed. They say he tried to bring Luke and Leia’s mother back, and when he failed...when he returned to the Living, he gave himself over to the Dark Side and the Emperor's will entirely.” His hands swept over each page, indicating the words and drawings as he spoke on them. “Kora’s tale matches up with everything the late Jedi Masters recorded here. And it explains some things they felt but didn’t know in detail.” He looked sidelong to her, “Are you sure about this?”

“I am.” Rey didn’t blink or flinch. She smiled. “I will tell you all about it, I promise. Remind me.” 

Beau nodded, but before he stood up, she touched his arm. “Record it in this book only please?” She handed him a journal with mustard-colored unfinished leather still tight from lack of age and use, the leather strips used to tie it closed were perfect and tight knotted into a bow of three loops. He examined the cover under the knot: tooled wings with a central saber and star, the symbol of the jedi, now included more cuts in the wings making them complicated and more feathered. The star that rested where the kyber crystal lived in the handle, instead of being only 6 or implied 8 points, there were 8 bigger wedges with dozens of smaller wedges in-between, like a detailed compass rose of geometric shape, but with the hand crafting, a softness of curves dulled the sharp points and edges.

Beau stared, piecing together all of the meanings. “Wait, a few weeks ago -- Is that why you were near that massive flower when it ejected all of its pollen?” He laughed, Rey’s grin melted into an equally big laugh, nodding as he explained the event. “I remember you coming to camp looking like a yellow bantha with a dust trail so thick that even I could have followed it back to the offending flower. That’s -- this is...amazing.” There were many tears in his eyes from laughing, but one or two were for his worry for this Jedi of the history he was compelled to record.

*~*~*

Once they were on the planet Maz Kanata volunteered to stay with the ship, Spot, Beaumont, and Veelos. Her understanding of the Force was enough to give warning to those at the base camp as she could feel them. She was also preparing to console the newly revived people, heeding Kora’s advice in the experience; using Kora’s previous words, the “reborn whole” as they were called, brought back all their unresolved woes, and needed compassion and patience. Veelos, Maz, and Beaumont were the best candidates to give this comfort. 

Veelos refused to leave the ship anyway, knowing that Oli would cause real trouble if he had a whole ship to wield at his own whims, and knowing that she needed to keep her home among the stars ready for when Kora returned. Veelos never let Kora see the worry in her heart as the wiry, pale woman staggered out of such places looking more dead than alive. Kora tried to walk with a dignified carriage, knowing that the “reborn” would be following her, but her face was sallow, the proud tension of her neck and jaw weakened to be just enough to keep her head aloft. HAving others around to help her console the new arrivals and manage the details was wonderful; she loved big communities and hoped this would be the beginning to many.

Veelos’s great big squishy, fishy heart made her an excellent, if optimistic, judge of people and their needs. She was also a damn fine pilot and navigator, and clever with her repairs to the ship. Mon Calamari were as intense in their care and they are in their intellect, and Veelos’ admiration for Kora’s knowledge, her ability to love and care and risk herself for others not only honored her racial culture of preserving life, but renewed her faith in the depth and breadth of the Force. She had never felt it herself, not directly. Kora found ways to project her mind into her lover’s, and like looking at an eclipse by way of the shadow from a hole punched in paper; she couldn’t see it in direct ways, rather in the culmination of all of the small unexplainable circumstances around them. Unbeknownst to Kora, those peeks at the Force also allowed Veelos to see Kora’s deep loneliness and suffering and desperate dedication to the Force. The Force, it HAD to be true. It HAD to have mercy, because Darth Vader had given her Kora a way back, to find a lover and friends and purpose for so many. 

Veelos mused, Kora wanted to return the favor to the Emperor’s granddaughter who slayed him, to give her the chance to have time with her Love.

Dry’nyad, compatriot to the crew of The Ark, was waiting when they landed. His race of people were slaves to the Hutts, his bloodline being best adapted to Forested regions. His people were long conditioned to servitude, so when the wiry muscular woman of commanding presence and determination appeared in the Realm of Death commanding he and others to follow her, he called his people to obey her. She had led him to more autonomy than his people had ever known, without damning them to their own determination and destiny after too many generations of conditioning. Someday she hoped he would lead the people here entirely without her input, always guarding the portal, always receiving those who left at the Force’s whim, treating them with grace and compassion. Dry’nyad, unbeknownst to himself, was already fulfilling that role, leading the dozens of Nikto slaves that exited the portal with him, creating a village in the forest near the portal in order to serve those who returned. The children of the Nikto people played in ways that made Veelos and Kora hope that their race had a future beyond servitude.

Spot galloped up to Dry’nyad, who patted her head in the kindest greeting he was capable of. Droids tended to have their own personality and hers was a loving but jealous guard dog. Her beeps were 3 toned chords, expressing her joy and sorrow, her aggression and concern. She was particularly notable when her chords rang out in alarm and depth of information, like a pipe organ rather than sounds associated with a droid.

Finn insisted on going with Rey and Kora into the portal. “What if there are other storm troopers? I know their shame and I got through it. They need someone who understands. And common people, they’ll understand me better than full on Force people and Jedi.” Finn’s passion caused Dry’nyad to place his body between Kora and Finn. Kora shook her head, touched her face in a gesture of thanks, and he stepped away.

Kora agreed, “You’re right. You’re an Apprentice Jedi, so that is risky, but you know the people we seek best.” He could feel her survey of him; she and Rey were melody and harmony, whereas Kora and Finn were call and answer. 

“Can I rely on you to do as I ask when we’re there? Even if it doesn’t make sense. Even if it sounds stupid?”

Finn looked away. “We’ll see.”

“All of our safety requires it. Especially Rey. Her signature will draw others in the moment she uses it for ANYTHING; you and I will have to console and convince them to follow us out.” Finn looked at Kora, wanting her to have eyes to explore, but finding the Force emanating from her answering him even moreso. 

“I will do as you ask.” 

*~*~*

They woke in the afternoon, adjusting their sleep for their stay. Stepping off the Ark the landing in the grass was soft and verdant with knee-high grasses swaying in the afternoon light. The landing site was on a plateau just below two higher steps, like stairs for a giant. Off to the north were sheer cliffs of ruddy stone that dropped 100 meters into deep blue fresh water. 

To the south were more stepped plateaus, each 1-2 meters high, with steps already cut out in them; Veelos insisted on stairs for going down to hunt game in the forest that overtook all of the area beyond the glade at the base of the plateaus. From the topmost plateau, Rey could see the half forested, half aquatic world around her. 

“So, what now?” Rey bounds down Veelos’ hand hewn stairs to their campsite.

“Your choice: we can go now or we can sleep or meditate or whatever people need. Veelos and my people know the procedures.”

Maz chimes in, “And if you manage to save as many people as you hope, Poe will send more ships and supplies to help the people you recover.”

Dry’nyad, not oft to speak, utters in his comforting baritone, “And my people will welcome those who need extended care and comforts, M’lady Kora.” This title, m’lady, was his conflicted title for the extraordinary Force Adept who had saved him and his people from the Unknown; she is not a Jedi or Sith, but surely she deserves a title of respect, in his mind.

Rey pauses, eyes closed breathing in and out, a soft smile on her lips, the wind carrying the Force in and through her. Kora occasionally wondered what sight would be like; she got hints of it from interacting with other Force sensitive people, and from Veelos’ intensely detailed explanations, but she would be lost in who she was if she could not see Rey like this: the Force moving around her, swirling like myriad gentle eddies in a river and knowing that she could be a malestrom at a whim. Her strength as a Jedi made Kora feel like her own potential was not yet challenged.

Rey looked at Finn, “After sunset. Once we go in, we’re either going to come right back out, or it will take a while, but nothing in between.” Kora nodded in agreement, but couldn’t determine if the Jedi learned that from her bonding with Kora or her communing with the Force. Either was impressive, and gave the cynical Miraluka even more hope.

*~*~*

“Final notes,” Kora announced, looking at Finn and Rey, while the others watched anxiously, The Ark and a campfire as backdrops to their silhouettes. “Once we’re in there, you won’t have a body anymore. Nothing physical goes with you EXCEPT your lightsabers, and even that might just be an emanation of the Force. When we’re in there, your thoughts and feelings will be interacting with MANY other people’s thoughts and feelings. Some of them are living in their own personal hell, some are just dangerous and deceptive people. Be mindful of that and trust the Force. Rey, after we get to a stable place, I’ll ask you to make yourself, well, KNOWN so to speak. Then Finn and I will coach the others. “

Kora’s lips purse, “Most importantly, of the things I can warn you about in advance: When we leave, if others are following you, DO NOT LOOK AT THEM. If you do, they will be lost.”

“What do you mean ‘lost’?” Finn tilts his head.

“They won’t be able to come out on this trip. Once we’re in the final tunnel, whenever I’ve looked at the people I rescue, they seem to get fixated on me, and they forget that the tunnel and moving forward is what matters most. That part of the voyage is particularly exhausting so making another trip through the portal can’t happen for a while, at least a week. By then, they might be gone.”

Rey clenches her hands, though not in fists, rubbing her fingers into her palms. She knows this is all true, but another feeling has crept up in her mind as the afternoon dwindled into night: She can feel Him. She can always feel him, but her doubts about the Miraluka woman’s words are gone. She knows some part of Ben is within the impenetrable darkness of that portal. 

Even if it is just to say goodbye, Rey needs to see Ben. None of her companions have mentioned this and she knows it’s because they didn’t want to stoke her heart’s fire only to find disappointment. Even now, she has barely kept her feelings and concerns at a low hum to the other Force sensitive people around her.

“Otherwise, if you have a problem, use your imagination to solve it and make it real in the Force. Again: what you think, what you feel, they will be real there. Mind your feelings and thoughts as they ARE the environment there.”

Rey bows her head and looked up again. “Let’s go.”


	4. Force-Borne into Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey, Finn, and Kora enter the Realm of Death, a rarely attempted feat. Their arrival triggers incoming visitors, including the one Rey most hoped to see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, still wrestling with verb tenses. Forgive the change of tense. I promise I will fix it once I decide which way I want all of this to read.
> 
> Next chapter might be a smut chapter; if not the one after definitely will be. If that's not your jam, that's cool. I will try to keep the core plot elements in the non-smut chapters.

Nude except Kora’s eye veil and Rey’s lightsaber, the three Force users walked into the narrow crevice of reddish brown soil at the base of the topmost plateau. Immediately the darkness was perfectly enveloping, each with their hands on the sides of the walls, occasionally touching each other’s backs with words of guidance and remarking on what they felt. Kora, in the front, knew that the threshold was never in the same place, but was always obvious. When the feeling of her skin starting to peel like from a sunburn in light layers, she knew they were close. Layers upon layers of her skin flaked off along with her veil, one colorful petal at a time, but from all over all at once. Ripples of her dusted form floated outward like ripples of water, like an expanding orb around her. This is how the living move among the dead without dying.

Finn panicked, Rey braced herself. But just as Kora had allowed the process to deconstruct her entirely, they did as well. 

By the time their physical accoutrements blew away into the tunnel, they could see that Kora was dressed again, veil and all. “See yourself in the Force.” Finn and Rey both did so, and they were again dressed as they most preferred.

As they righted themselves, Kora turned her mind to the landscape, creating it into something that echoed her homeworld. “This is why the Miraluka came to be without eyes.” The ground was dry, cracked russet clay with plants no more than knee high in a space that was otherwise desert. The perpetual twilight with a pale crimson sky hosted an endless cascade of all different types of lighting, making sight nearly impossible and overwhelming to those who were attached to their eyes to perceive such distractions.

*~*~*

In the silence, Kora suspected she could hear voices, but knew that they could be hallucinations. When Finn was silent to hear what the approaching entities were saying, she knew her Force sense in this realm rang true.

There were no arcane windows or symbols here, not even stars and sky and space; just the world that Kora created and the others reacted to. She had spared them the great nothingness by filling the space with her memories of her homeworld and as harsh as it was, it was better than that void.

Rey looked to Kora and Finn, nodded, and without a further step, began to commune with the Force. Almost immediately, like static on a screen or the intense chirping of birds in a distant forest, a full cacophony of vibrations that was far away could be perceived. As Kora suspected, Rey’s mere presence had awoken more of the Lost than she could have managed in 10 trips. But how long would it take for them to get here? How long would it take to persuade them to follow the Force users? How long would it take to rediscover the door? Finn had noticed, while Rey meditated, that the path they had take was different. 

“Yes. It has changed. Stop panicking or you’ll make it even further away in your own mind. And mine” Kora’s tone wasn’t scolding, but matter-of-fact. “Your emotions change this world. Be steadfast.” Finn nodded, took a performative deep breath and could see the ripples tracing back the path from which they entered. His thoughts were interrupted and all three Force users snapped to attention.

“Rey.”

Her eyes snapped to the form of a man, still darkly dressed in casual clothes. Her imagined stark white garb belted and secured with warm brown leather belts, and her signature 3 hairbuns all softened; their stiff formal movements seemed unnatural to Kora. Upon seeing Ben Solo, everything about Rey lightened and softened, and the young Master Jedi’s actions all made sense. Stark white clothes became a buttercream white, her hair loosened from being perfectly tucked in, her hardened face with tight eyebrows and pursed lips alighted with his presence.

Ben wasn’t strong enough to become a Force Spirit, a facet of training that other Force Spirits and the Wills had not yet imparted to him. It was nearly no time at all since the Battle of Exegol. 

He hadn’t Healed her with the Force. He had only just turned to the Light and while he knew how to Heal with the Force, she was already dead in his arms when he found her. The grandson of Anakin, son of Leia, descendant of the Sunriders, in his moments of deepest despair after Rey had slain Emperor Palpatine, his domitor and one of the greatest Sith Lords, he found a moment of quiet, peace. Holding her lifeless body, he took his deep inborn knowledge of the Force, his skill with the Force, and Rey’s lessons on how to reach out to someone, anyone, in a deep and meaningful way. He asked the Force for guidance. His knowing mind placed a hand on her abdomen, much as she had done to him, rather than using his life force to heal her, he took the Light and Dark and combined them; instead of infusing her with healing, he GAVE her his own lifeforce, reversing the process Emperor Palpatine used to drain the Dyad. She deserved it. She earned it. She had everything to offer the Living Force. The only thing he had left to give was his life to hers. 

He walked forward, these thoughts being the first cogent thoughts he had had in this place. He had purpose and clarity in that purpose: her.

His newly reinvigorated conscious mind drifted to his last moments of life: Her kissing him was not expected, and his laughing joy, the joy from his last morsels of his true self, the joy reflected from his perpetual and living life inside her, was unstoppable. He only regretted leaving her alone when he died and dissipated. 

Since then he had run the gamut of self torture that became self refinement; he gave his life to Rey, but so did she him. There is something to be said for the one who reignites the fires of Olympus, of Delphi, of Marathon. Her warmth, her love, her understanding, and faith, and memories, and so many other qualities that renewed his true self, these made his time of self-torment last only an exhale in the Realms beyond knowing.

Could she see all of that in him now? He hoped so. She had inspired it. She was right and he was better for it. The Sith could use the machinations and machines of the Living Force to sacrifice bits of the Living World to extend their lives into unnatural lengths. The Jedi could make peace with the Realm of Death, to make peace with the lack of calamity and complete silence. 

Projected before him was a foreign planet’s atmosphere, a comfort he hadn’t even attempted in this strange place. Had wandering in nothingness warped him? Surely Rey would tell him. 

Rey looked the same age, just as joyous and eager about life. As her eyes fell upon him, her warmth in the depth of his core radiated outward. His was smile automatic and genuine and irrepressible, the epitome of his father’s. She hadn’t hardly aged a day, so maybe he hadn’t missed too much time.

Finn’s concern and Kora’s curiosity registered as peripheral in his mind. 

Rey bounded up to him in long, light strides. “Ben.”

Even outside of the Realm of Death, determining how long they looked into each other’s eyes would be hard to know. They examined each other, they reached out in the Force, and before their hands could find each other, their lips met. Their noses pressed gently as much as their lips pressed firmly. 

In a very mortal manner of etiquette, Kora turned Finn away, tugging his arm, as he acknowledged the deep bond of his Master to Ben. He wanted her to be happy. He didn’t trust Kylo Ren. But he didn’t know who Ben Solo was. 

Kylo Ren would take the path of Palpatine to destroy the world because of her absence in it, but would Ben Solo?

Rey was desperate to kiss Ben again. When she saw, when she felt that he was truly Ben Solo, her mild understanding of decorum disappeared. He was who she hoped he was, would be, and because he had left the Dark behind, he could exist here. 

This was not perfect, but it was a damn good start.

After long and deep kisses escalated to tongues entwining, words being unnecessary in a place where only the Force exists. 

Kora coughed, entirely artificially. “Master Rey, Ben. I daresay you have matters to discuss?”

Rey paused, her hands gripping her upper arms as his crossed her back, but turning her torso open toward the Miraluka with her infinite gratitude in her smile and eyes. “Yes. How does that work here? C-could we have some time to talk?” Her eyebrows knitted in concern in addition to her desire...and the desire echoed perfectly the same in Ben. 

Dyad, the Force whispered to Kora, who gasped slightly but turned the sound into an exaggerated sigh of calculation. 

“Master Rey, time works strangely here, so…” Kora pauses to calculate the risks and dangers and needs of her task as compared to Rey’s desires, “...I’ll put a world setting in place. Somewhere Veelos showed me; it is her most vibrant visual memory, so I think you might like it?” The cruel Alphreridies landscape surrounding them turned into a lush paradise. Fields of flowering grasses and trees surrounded a still lake that kept a cottage as companion. Beyond them were the ghosts of distant mountains, blue-grey-purple with white snow caps that gave them more shadow and silhouette against the perfect blue sky from horizon to horizon. Rey, Finn, and Ben all looked around as things changed, entranced with the feeling of the Force blooming around them, or perhaps more like a kaleidoscope, rotating perfectly into the most pleasing geometric shapes. 

Rey laughed in an elated gasp. Ben loved this place in an instant, trying to identify what world it could be and if he had been there with his mother, knowing that she would love it. Finn was overwhelmed with how beautiful a place could be. 

The latter whispered to Kora, his voice barely audible as he feared breaking the spell by moving too much, “This place really exists?”

She nodded and breathed in deeply, letting the energetic blue outline of her lover, Veelos, pass through her own body, the two sharing that view as Kora had rendered this place. Veelos’s hologram-like figure moved towards the lakeside cottage, laughing voiceless, encouraging unseen people to follow her, looking back and gesturing. 

“Mon Calamar before the wars, and somewhat even now, was verdant with abundant water and life and Force everywhere. I haven’t been there, but I want to go someday.”

Finn couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down his face as he looked around.

Kora lays an understanding hand on his shoulder and addresses the Jedi, “When the Sun-star rises on the third day, we need to leave. Is that acceptable?”

Rey was already nodding as Ben was still stunned from everything, most lately the generous offer from this stranger. If Rey trusted this woman, he had every reason to as well, because she brought her to him. And now they had time. They had SOME time to talk for him to tell her everything she deserved to know. And while their first kiss had felt like a fantasy of his mind, touching her now felt even more real.

He wanted to kiss Rey again, to pull her close, but out of respect to the strange Force Sensitive woman that guided Rey to him, wherever this place was, he adhered to the decorum that his mother instilled in him as a diplomat.

“Madam…?”

“Kora,” she changed her tone and decorum to a formal one which her merchant parents taught her, given that they sold to people of all kinds in all ways. “I’m sorry. I am Kora Sifu of the Miraluka, Force Adept, member of the crew of the Ark. My crew stayed behind with our ship: my partner and Captain Veelos of the Mon Calamari, Oli-Ral-Ifi of the Tiss’shar, Spot or SP-01 the droid, and a village of Nikto led by Dry’nyad who are ready to help. Jedi Ben, sir.”

Ben never understood Leia’s demand for decorum while he was Kylo Ren. Here and now? The demonstration of respect and care that Kora had presented herself endeared her to him further, but on a direct personal level. Friend. His mind dared to whisper this title for her, for a scattered spread of little things that had made his being...whole. 

“Lady Kora, 3 days is generous and appreciated.” He looks down at Rey, knowing it is not enough, but it might be a start to whatever comes next. “How shall we meet? This landscape is vast.”

“I will find you, I daresay,” Kora grins. “It’s nearly impossible for me to be lost here. Again, she lifts her eye veil to show the flat skin over her eye sockets to the tall man who hadn’t considered her cultural attire to be functional. 

“Oh! My apologies.” He gives a quick bow upon instinct. Rey beams at him. Would he have done that as Kylo Ren? Surely not. He is entirely the man she suspected he was. And she smiles brightly to Kora.

“I can’t thank you enough. When you first presented your offer, if I didn’t know if I could hope to trust you--”

“Please.” Kora raised her hand. “Please don’t thank me yet. The longer we’re here, the more our minds will mingle with the Force here and it is far less stable than...other places. Our minds will affect the landscape here, at first only for ourselves and then echoing outwards to everyone and with increasing potency.” Rey nodded understanding while Ben looked lost. “In three days, I will come back. If I do not return, then assume the possible fates for me: the void has swallowed me, the Force has rebirthed me, the dark side has conquered me. If I am lucky, I panicked and left this place for the other side, and if I do that, know I will still come back to retrieve you. However! Be aware that imposters and deceivers are among the Lost here.” Kora bows her head and the sun overhead resets from midday to sunrise. “On the third sunrise from now I will be back. Please.” Rey can’t help but acknowledge that the way one might pierce another with an intense stare, Kora did this with the Force and the tension in her voice and body. Even her veil was stiff and pleading. “Please, be ready then.”

Rey and Ben nodded. Rey left Ben’s side to hug Finn, still teary eyed. “Please be safe. Help as many as you can....I -- I have to do this, but I will join you as soon as I can. And then we will lead people out of here.” Her irrepressible smile overwhelms Finn’s apprehension and distrust of who Ben/Kylo is now. He turns his gaze toward Ben. 

He certainly doesn’t look or act or speak like Kylo, and the Force tells him that the pale man with dark waves of hair is a different person than the one he feared the one that killed so many. He couldn't imagine how to get the galaxy to accept the return of Ben Solo after EVERYTHING that happened… 

He didn’t need to. The two Jedi would have to figure that out, right? He finished the hug and grasped his friend by the shoulders, “May the Force be with you.”

Rey could have glowed in the dark, “May the Force be with you, my friend,” before she half-tackled him in another hug. She pushed her lightsaber into his hand. 

“No. NO! I can’t.” 

“You might have to.” Rey grew serious and worried for her Padawan. “I will be safe here. I know it. You...you will have a lot of convincing to do, and that might not go so well.” 

Everyone gathered felt the Truth in that, with varying degrees of information, visions, feelings. Finn only nodded, and imagined a holster which faded into being as he placed the sentinel’s saber into it.

Kora was impressed with how his instinct and sense of duty made Finn so easily able to manipulate a holster into being. She nodded to Finn, he returned the nod, and they walked away, the landscape transitioning from the idyllic haven Veelos adored to a less harsh version of the terrain and land that had birthed and housed the Miraluka. 

Finn didn’t know his origin, and with the better visibility and climate from her first version of the Alphreridies climate and geography, he had no strong connection or argument to her staging the landscape ahead. He knew the softening landscape was the expression of her more tender heart; the small sniffles interrupting her formal manner that started when they had seen Veelos’s ghost was only now subsiding.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben. What was unsaid is said...sort of.  
> A short chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay the NEXT chapter is DEFINTELY smut. But I wanted to give the romantic lead up for those who will "fade to black" and skip the next chapter.  
> Plus I was pretty proud of my own cleverness in incorporating a certain classic line into this one ;-) Forgive my pride and enjoy!
> 
> Edit: Oh, and in case you didn't pick up on this, I haven't created a release schedule for this *at all*. I crawled out of a slump TODAY and was inspired to further this story and here I am, dumping several chapters all at once. Sorry I'm not more consistent or predictable than this: I try, but my creativity and brain weasels aren't always on the same page with me.

When Kora and Finn’s forms crossed the boundary from verdant grass to rust-colored clay dirt, Rey turned to Ben. 

She wanted to ask him a million things. She wanted to tell him a million things. She wanted to kiss him again.  
She settled on the last as the most desired and knew would lead to her other needs. 

Her hands touched his cheeks as she brought his face down to hers. This was less forceful than their first kiss, and less fervent than this most recent kiss. It made her a happy kind of nervous, her heart not only fast but deeply booming through her imagined form. 

Ben felt the same; he felt her feeling these things, as well as his own confusion, but his deep joy was completely devoid of anger or fear for the first time in too long. This is who he always was; confused, worried, unsure, and completely ready for love, of all kinds. In this moment, his care for Rey was care for his splintered Force spirit, a piece of himself, as well as ...his Love.  
HIS Love. He loved her. 

He had only just realized this while kissing her, abandoning his care for anything else for this moment. He had fought her, fought for her, fought against her, fought beside her. But he had also shared his deepest hurts and weakness with her. The dark side can’t truly have you if they can’t own your shame, and her ability to show him compassion for his worst failings and believe his most profound traumas and best nature had saved him. 

Rey couldn’t be lonely in this moment if the void itself had surrounded them. She hadn't felt lonely since Exegol, when Ben had pushed his Force into her, making the non-existent fuel of her Force come alive with its only possible donor. And yet...she only got that one word, that one kiss. She said his name, they kissed, he laughed and she beamed.  
And then he died.  
She had felt like she was trying to cup water in her hands since then. Yes, she had plenty of water within, but what about without her being? She needed him like air, like water, like so many things and losing him was bittersweet, particularly when he had finally found himself.

“I have so much I need to tell you, “she whispered, breaking their kiss, foreheads pressed together. “I-- I don’t know where to begin.” Her eyes filled with tears as her face became a weave of emotions of all kinds.

He rested his hands on her face. “We will talk. I promise. Let’s get comfortable in this space, maybe just be and let the Force flow between us, and then go from there? Would that be okay?”

He extended one hand to her midsection, waiting for hers to curls equally into his, fingers knotted and alive with their own exploration.

She did, and as they walked towards the lake and cottage, so much that is hard to say was conveyed through that contact.

“I love you, too, “Rey whispered, looking at him and then down. 

Ben nodded with a grin that held back his elation as he stared at her. “I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The opening for the next chapter for those skipping the smut (and a fun preview for the rest!):
> 
> With so much beauty to explore, it was hard to choose where to go first. While Ben and Rey were joined together in an unwillingness to release their touch from one another, they drifted naturally toward the cabin. Inside, they found a large cozy bed, a simple kitchenette with the fireplace, and the highlight of the room, a large comfortable couch that offered views of the mountains around the building through high windows all around the one room cabin. The only door led to a bathroom with a basic refresher, since most simply used the available lake for bathing. 
> 
> Together they closed the door. Together they came to rest on the couch. The disjointed and lonely parts of themselves that the other had carried with them being reunited made it hard for them and the Force to tell which was choosing what. When Beau would ask later what happened, Rey would struggle to say who did what in this time BECAUSE she couldn’t find a strong boundary between her mind and heart and Ben’s. 
> 
> They both sat, arms and legs entwined on the couch, looking at a fire that wasn’t started by anyone in particular, it simply *was*. 
> 
> *~*~*
> 
> The day she died, the day he died, she had kissed him, the first time she had seen Ben Solo without the veil and armor that Kylo Ren was. And again, whatever the Emperor had intended, had backfired for the same reason it always had: Beaumont having read the Jedi records told her as much. In the Old Republic, Andur Sunrider was the hero until he was struck down. And then his wife, Nomi Sunrider, who before his death had had no real interaction with the Force, she became the greatest Jedi for 1000 years until Yoda, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Luke & Leia. 
> 
> In this same history lesson, Beaumont put down the Jedi tomes and told Rey: “In history 2 things are sure: History will repeat, and the bonds of love can upend all political and war machinations. Look at what the love of a brother and sister have done to the galaxy.” Rey hadn’t even seen the end of the war and victory of the Resistance at that point, and she knew he was right.


	6. Come Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: smut.   
> Nothing of plot significance happens here. IF this isn't your jam, move along.   
> If fun sexy-times is your thing, please enjoy!

With so much beauty to explore, it was hard to choose where to go first. While Ben and Rey were joined together in an unwillingness to release their touch from one another, they drifted naturally toward the cabin. Inside, they found a large cozy bed, a simple kitchenette with the fireplace, and the highlight of the room, a large comfortable couch that offered views of the mountains around the building through high windows all around the one room cabin. The only door led to a bathroom with a basic refresher, since most simply used the available lake for bathing. 

Together they closed the door. Together they came to rest on the couch. The disjointed and lonely parts of themselves that the other had carried with them being reunited made it hard for them and the Force to tell which was choosing what. When Beau would ask later what happened, Rey would struggle to say who did what in this time BECAUSE she couldn’t find a strong boundary between her mind and heart and Ben’s. 

They both sat, arms and legs entwined on the couch, looking at a fire that wasn’t started by anyone in particular, it simply *was*. 

*~*~*

The day she died, the day he died, she had kissed him, the first time she had seen Ben Solo without the veil and armor that Kylo Ren was. And again, whatever the Emperor had intended, had backfired for the same reason it always had: Beaumont having read the Jedi records told her as much. In the Old Republic, Andur Sunrider was the hero until he was struck down. And then his wife, Nomi Sunrider, who before his death had had no real interaction with the Force, she became the greatest Jedi for 1000 years until Yoda, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Luke & Leia. 

In this same history lesson, Beaumont put down the Jedi tomes and told Rey: “In history 2 things are sure: History will repeat, and the bonds of love can upend all political and war machinations. Look at what the love of a brother and sister have done to the galaxy.” Rey hadn’t even seen the end of the war and victory of the Resistance at that point, and she knew he was right. 

*~*~*

These thoughts spurred her on. While Ben was unsure of everything due to his time in the void, she knew exactly what she wanted. She kissed him, sudden and deep. His only desire was to return that same feeling to her, the one of connection that he held so dear.

She kept a gap between her hips and his as she straddled his lap, her robes hiking up her thighs, further enticing him in ways that weren’t needed but heightened that existing need. Her hand pinned his chest back, allowing her to have control as she kissed him.

She had time; no amount of time would be enough, but she had enough to draw this out enough to be fun without being cruel or unnecessary. The building of tension made the collapse all the more impactful, like gravity to objects falling from the sky. And her rambling talk served her well to prolong, and tease, and entice up to this point. 

As they continued without words, she teased him but also allowed his hands to rove and learn her body as she imagined it. She knew it wouldn’t be long with his hungry hands on her hips and waist, wanting her closer, but careful not to demand what she wasn’t ready to give.

His ravenous, impassioned, adoring gaze broke her first. She was already lost to his obvious affection and desire for her. The intensity of his bond with her, she wanted nothing more than to disrupt him in every meaningful way that he had disrupted her in life, except one way and now that final physical act was hers to initiate.

She subtly let her knees move forward, pulling her hips into his lap, pressing his length against the pulsing core of her desire. Words failed; her tongue was lost to him, tasting him, hands on either side of his face as her torso collapsed against his for the first of many times. He responded with matched intensity, still restraining his hands to what was available: her ass in a hiked up robes, her narrow waist, her wild, brown hair and petite frame. She understood his suggestion, and as she stood, ditching her shoes, she pulled him up from the couch. 

He obliged with a hint of surprise. He had adored her for such a long time, but once she realized how much he cherished her, she went all in. While he took a moment to observe her, standing an entire head over her, and the certainty of her desire for him flashing in the intensity of her brown eyes and pressure of her fingers on his bare skin, he was motionless. She took this time to make quick work of her belts and the ties on her robes with one hand while tugging his shirt over his head with the other. As she began to loosen his pants, he shook loose from his mental capture of the moment and began to tug her remaining pieces of clothing away from her in quick finger snaps, as well as his own belt and pants. 

They were undressed quickly, and in her need to know him even more, she gave him a playful shove back onto the couch. He smiled, inviting her closer again. She resumed her straddling of him, hips resting by his knees while the tension of her assertive teasing only increased in his cock. 

She kissed him again, clutching the back of his head to keep his face to hers, playing with him further, knowing that he was used to more, faster. But she wanted to enjoy that strange feeling of being wanted -- no, needed -- so deeply, not just for her body, but her way of thinking, her emotional impulses that had her heart on her sleeve. 

He broke the kiss first. He looked at her; her skinny body was more scarred than his was and showed signs of neglect in her life. She was underfed, poor. But she had kept herself well; her skin was soft, with the scent of gardenias. Her hands were strong, compelling, as she pushed him down into the couch and held his head in place for her tongue to explore his. But he wanted more. And knowing her, he’d have to push to show he meant it. 

He gripped her hips and pulled her forward suddenly, his member pressed between their torsos, a gasp of awe and desire escaping her. She wasn’t stunned for long as she rocked against him, with her lips eager to lock back on his.

He surprised her; he broke off the kiss, snatching her one hand at the wrist. She didn’t know how to respond except to watch. He ran his nose along the tender inside of her bicep, waiting until reaching her inner elbow to press his tongue and tease his teeth against her tender flesh. She was practiced at maintaining self-control, but this flipped her world. She nearly collapsed, unravelled by the unexpected vulnerability he caused. He moved down her arm and caught her eye as he did the same at her wrist. Yet again, she was weak due to his tongue and demanding gaze, the sort of look that upended all her fallback plans and made her innovate.

All of this enticement: she only ever used lust for fun. Among the lessers on Jakku, she tried so hard to be cool, but his vigorous inspection of her body, the threat of breaking her vulnerable flesh with his teeth, the anticipation of his tongue causing her imagination to run wild, she caved in to all temptation. 

Suddenly, she raised her body over his, her breasts near his mouth. As he teased her nipples the same way he had her arm, his tongue and teeth threatening and enticing, she took a moment to be grateful for what was to come, regardless of the consequences. She lowered her wet slit onto the head of his hard cock. His eyes searched hers as she paused, making sure she was ready and wanted this. He kissed her, not like she was just a Lover, but like he was in love with her, or getting there, or maybe already part of her; at this point there was no telling. She responded in kind, the deep ache in her chest overwhelming her long loneliness and apprehension. He didn’t need her for sex or vice versa. They wanted one another for THIS connection, which was beyond their ability to define in the moment. 

She broke the kiss to watch him as she lowered her body further onto his, bringing his member inside her. She took a moment to pause, revelling in the delicious pain of him having too much to offer, the huge cock hitting her deeply. A cry of delight and overwhelmed senses echoed from her in a shudder and a grunt of happy pain and intense pleasure. She noticed he was also frozen in that moment, paralyzed by so many thoughts of his being overcome with sensations: worry for her, desiring her, desire for her pleasure. She grinned; she didn’t wait for him to come to his senses as she rose and fell again, causing him to gasp, finally giving an honest release of emotion, thereafter his hands clamping on to her ass to guide her motions up and down to drive both of them over the edge of release. She moaned along with him. She didn’t scream his name. No, she whispered it, like a pleading, a prayer for more to come.

And they did come together, as they both lunged to kiss one another, they shuddered and collapsed in unison, her forehead pressed to his. 

They didn’t breathe heavily; in lieu of the normal functions of romance, there was the stillness that this realm of the Force innately possessed. Yet so much was had in the moments after. She locked her hand into his and brought it up to her lips to kiss. He couldn’t help himself but to watch her do it. Her tenderness pushed away the most dire regrets in his mind. She was different. 

He was enamored with her passion and strength and capability. 

What did she want from him?

Nothing, except time WITH him. The most innocent and significant request of all.

It rattled him like a shockwave. No treachery, no ulterior motives, nothing but appreciation for him. Even if he weren’t a part of her.

She gently pushed him to recline on the couch, her head on his shoulder and hand over his heart. The scars, her hands passed over them, happier to make smooth passes back and forth across his chest in a soothing, drowsy way. 

He looked to the windows; the views were stunning but the last images before sleep took them both, were of him looking at her, and her in return to him, both content, safe and happy in ways they had lacked for a long, long time.


	7. Cumulus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Under Kora's tutelage, Finn begins to understand how this Realm works.

Kora got the Padawan turned around enough that she knew they were still close by Rey and Ben, without him being able to find them easily. When she stopped and sat down, he gestured a question he didn’t bother to ask, instead sitting down beside her

He asked, “How long will this take?”

“I have no idea. Time is strange here.”

“That answer is a non-answer.” He frowned.

“It depends.” She shook her head realizing that too was a non-answer. “You and I are not doing everything we can do accelerate the process. I sat down so we might focus on that.”

Finn nodded. “Won’t that rush Rey and Ben?”

“No.” Kora sighed quickly, not at his question but at her own inability to explain, no matter how many times she had tried. “In Anima, the Realm of the Living Force, we are united by time and space all working in a certain way. We share our understanding of these core concepts. Yes?” As he nodded, she continued, “Here, each of us are a world unto ourselves. We have nothing physical here, particles that are the slowest and clunkiest bits. Everything is thought and feeling and Force. Therefore, this goes exactly how each of us command it. If those with the most command of the Force are in discord, then we will have chaos. If we are united in how we see and understand this space and what we want from it, then this process can be very easy.”

Finn considered these words, the world around the two ebbing with him, the collors becoming warmer and cooler as his thoughts swirled. The observed change interrupted these thoughts. He picked up his hand, covered in a dusting of fine red clay. He wondered if instead of clay, it could be water. And then it was. He leaned back shaking his hand and Kora laughed. He thought of places he’d been. The deserts of Jakku. The ground under them became hot and gritty sand, with an unforgiving sun above them. Finn squinted, raising his hand to shield his eyes while Kora was still, only her hair and veil rippling in the arid wind.

“Wait, so if we can do all of this, if you can do this better than me, then why do you need me and Rey?”

“Because I cannot persuade a million souls to follow me. But YOU have that trust with these people. You are heroes to them.” She stood, him jumping up with her. “The way emotions work is NOT something I can affect here. Nor would I. But the way people hold heroes in their heart, even if they haven’t met you, they know you, at least in small part.”

Finn nodded. “So, if I wanted them here, I could make the Lost come to me right now, and we could start gathering them to leave this place?” 

Kora’s smile showed in her whole being. “Yes. Exactly that.”

Finn closed his eyes, trying to imagine the terrain of the planet they had entered from. When he opened his eyes, he was on the grass-laden stepped plateaus, his back to the cliffs of the vast ocean. He couldn’t seem to find the doorway out, but this at least made it easier to see people coming. And they were; thousands of people of all races and species in their cultural garb were wandering in a massive crowd from the plains that surrounded the elevated steppes.

“Let’s go talk to them.” Finn turned toward the incoming people. Kora followed.


End file.
